ICYMI: Day 5 DWW 2021 Highlights

“And I'll take with me the memories

To be my sunshine after the rain

It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday” – Boyz II Men

#WatchFam.

You have seen the hashtag. You may have even used it when you posted selfies with F.P. Journe or wrist shots of the new titanium Urwerk or TikToks of your friends and you dancing frantically at the Frederique Constant party over the past five days. Watch. Fam. This is who we are as a community. We are a family, and this week was our long-awaited family reunion. We hugged. We kissed. We ate and drank. We laughed and we told stories and we danced, and we sang. Mostly, however, we caught up on everything going on in our horological worlds. We shared our newest purchases, we discussed the recent auctions, and we waxed poetic – as we often do – over our favorite independent brands and their place in our worlds. We. Are. FAMILY. And neither a pandemic nor a new variant will keep us apart for too long. We will see one another again. In time.

If you did not get to attend today’s final day of Dubai Watch Week, here are a few things that happened: 

We Got It Started in Here

At 9:00 a.m., Director General of Dubai Watch Week, Hind Seddiqi, sat down with none other than American rapper, singer, and songwriter, Will.I.Am of the group, Black Eyed Peas. The discussion focused a lot on the current and future states of the watch industry in Will’s eyes, as well as how he believes digital will play a part in the future both on the watch side as well as the music side. “You’re going to be listening to a song some day in the not-too-distant future and say, ‘wow, I really like the voice of that singer’ only to come to find out the singer was created through artificial intelligence.” He stated. “That’s going to be the future in music.” 

Today’s panels consisted of, “What Do You Do When We Come for You?” as well as the final panel – a lighthearted discussion called, “Carte Blanche” where questions are anonymously written on white cards throughout the week covering a variety of topics, and those questions are asked of the four panelists in attendance. It was light, fun, and occasionally controversial! Be sure to check out all of the Horology Forum panels on the Dubai Watch Week YouTube channel. 

Creatively Speaking

The Creative hub played host to a collectability discussion with the fine folks at WatchBox and watch brands Louis Monet as well as Bell and Ross introduced their newest watch releases. 

If you were able to join us at Dubai Watch Week, we were glad to have you and hope that you will return for the 2023 edition. If you could not make it, remember, there is always the future. 

To all of you in the watch community, we bid you safe travels and farewell. Until next time.